Poster Presenter

Novel Iron Materials to Address Iron Deficiency Anaemia
J.J. Powell, NJR Faria, C Hutchinson, P Winship, S Bruggraber and DIA Pereira
UK

Interstitial mineral hydroxides (IMH) are materials that comprise metal oxo-hydroxides doped with biologically compatible low molecular weight ligands, through ligand substitution of oxo/hydroxy groups. IMH have different tailorable physico-chemical properties compared to the parent metal oxide and are being explored by our group for therapeutic applications. In this work we have developed a tartaric acid-doped iron oxide that has favourable gastro-intestinal disaggregation and dissolution allowing effective iron absorption, with near equivalence compared to ferrous sulphate in humans. However, unlike ferrous sulphate, which is toxic to the intestinal mucosa and associated with significant side-effects at therapeutic doses, non-absorbed IMH should be poorly redox active and, therefore, not toxic to the gastrointestinal mucosa. The material is cheap to manufacture and we aim to deliver iron effectively, at therapeutic or nutritional doses, without the side-effects or risk of intestinal toxicity/carcinogenicity. The issue is especially relevant in light of the fact that iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency disorder in the world affecting 2 billion people and that, in childhood, it is associated with increased morbidity and reduced cognitive development and, in pregnancy, with poor outcomes.